Study says younger generation snubbing e-mail

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A new study finds that people under 25 are much less likely to use e-mail, instead favoring instant messaging, social networking sites, and text messaging. For those of us who cut our teeth on e-mail back when AOL was in and mobile phones were rare, this represents a radical shift in communication. I get jittery if I go more than a few hours without checking my e-mail. To avoid using it at all is unthinkable.

Ten years later, e-mail is looking obsolete. According to a 2005 Pew study, almost half of Web-using teenagers prefer to chat with friends via instant messaging rather than e-mail. Last year, comScore reported that teen e-mail use was down 8 percent, compared with a 6 percent increase in e-mailing for users of all ages. As mobile phones and sites like Twitter and Facebook have become more popular, those old Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts increasingly lie dormant.
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It will all fall into a melting pot someday anyway. It already has in some form or another. No worries.
 
You know them dang teenagers, with their short attention spans and their lack of patience.:p
 
I'm no teen but I Likes me some instant gratification too...:D
Of course, I check my E-mail very, very regularly too...Delayed gratification is better than no gratification.

Gratification FTW?
 
What's the difference between an email and a myspace message then?
 
When you sign up for a free email account spam filtering is a standard feature. When you sign up for Myspace spam is a standard feature.
 
Jordan1 said:
When you sign up for a free email account spam filtering is a standard feature. When you sign up for Myspace spam is a standard feature.
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LOL

But I don't agree...Any email address I've had has gotten more spam than my MySpace ever has. (But, yes, MySpace IS a spam/virus breeding ground)
 
I use instant messengers but I also keep in touch with family through email. For reasons unknown to myself I feel awkward talking to family over an IM service. It just doesn't seem right.
 
They needed a study for this? I do wonder how much money was pissed away on this study and where that money came from.

Of course people are more likely to chat to friends over IM, that's what a chat is isn't it? Just stupid crap that doesn't warrant being saved as an email is saved on a machine.

Email is more the digital version of sending a letter and when you want to be more formal.

This is hardly the end of email. Wait long enough and we'll have an article on the "death of IM and SMS". Or an article on the death of myspace, or whatever that other thing is, what was it? FaceStabKnife?. :D
 
Well, I'm 23 and I snub e-mail. I check mine once every few days. Then again I don't use any sort of IM's and only send about 5 SMS messages per month. My preferred methods of communication: In Person > Phone > e-mail > sms (SMS is really only used to send a quick message that I just need a yes/no answer to, or when someone is out of reception area{common on Fort Riley, KS})
 
Teens use IM to talk to each other, because they have lots of free time to contact FRIENDS LIVE.

Teens also like IM/SMS because they can do it anywhere without getting bothered or over heard by others.


Adults have no time, so they use Email to send messages and receive messages for later review.
 
yeah im 17 and i read this title and thought "they didn't know this already"

I personally do use email for some stuff I'm doing, but with facebook, myspace, texting, aim, why would anyone use email (<25 speaking)
 
I'm 35. I read emails all the time. I guess I'm just used to it because my job requires it. But I do tend to ignore instant messages. 99% of the time it begins with a

"hey Travis, whats up?"
"oh nothing much, just relaxing"
"oh I see, hey I need help with..."

ugh :p
 
I dont like using the message systems on social sites, etc. Much easier to just use email IMO.

I also check my email all the time and it is convienient to have it running and alert me when I have a new email instead of having to go to some other site then to receive the message.

I do notice most of my friends barely ever use email though...
 
I just turned 24 and I guess I sorta still fall into that. I have email but it is rarely used for much. Mostly it fills up with spam and memos from work. I also lump social networking sites in with that. I have a Facebook (no myspace), but I rarely check it.

Text messages and IM, however, I use regularly.
 
I like IM.

No, it has nothing to do with instant gratification. It has everything to do with efficiency. Sitting around for hours waiting for a reply, when you can get your answer instantly, just seems stupid.
 
Arcygenical said:
I like IM.

No, it has nothing to do with instant gratification. It has everything to do with efficiency. Sitting around for hours waiting for a reply, when you can get your answer instantly, just seems stupid.
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"Sitting around for hours waiting for a reply, when you can get your answer instantly.."

Isn't that by definition instant gratification?

On most devices it is sort of a moot point anyway, I can choose not to answer an IM, SMS or Email instantly if I do not want to. It just seems that many people feel the need to.
 
I first read that as "this represents a radical sh*t in communication". I guess it's both.

Kids use IM because they're not doing anything important. Email is for business. Serious business is not conducted over IM or Myspace.
 
Geee why in the world would I use email...

Funny reading this article. Just before a gf of mine just asked me for my mailing address via IM. Instead of giving it to her right there, I sent her an email so she'd have a permanent record of it.

So a good reason to use email? Keep permanent records of all communications!

Ok, sure IM converstaions do have a history file but how many users actually know this, know where it is located, and save it when they migrate? Also it is difficult to search IM records..

I can go back to 1994 and read my email. I can search all email I have sent or received since 1994.

That's a really good reason to keep using email. IM-only is for sheep...
 
Also a permanent historical record of all email is sort of like a diary. Read old emails to and from girlfriends, friends, family, even co-workers. It's really cool, and doesn't require any work to keep it!
 
I'm sort of inbetween these groups, but more on the "younger" side. I'm 25 and only use email for "official" communications. Anything between friends I just send an IM. If they aren't around, then they'll just respond when they get around to it. As for the social network sites, I never really did understand what the big draw was with them, let alone using them as a replacement for IM and email. In the limited experience I've had with them, they're slower, less robust and their spam filtering is pretty much nil.

I've noticed this trend in my own family, actually. The younger the person is, the higher change they'll use IM over email.
 
RoffleCopter said:
You know them dang teenagers, with their short attention spans and their lack of patience.:p
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lol that sums it up for me... props for the truth man! Im so sick of email because most people I know dont even use it, the ones who do dont respond for like 3 weeks, and I could get ahold of them anytime of day and they almost always respond when I text. Seriously, email is SO OUT because you can forward it to your cell phone as a text, even if you dont have a pda phone... and you can respond too! Thats what I do. The only real reason that I use email is for those ohh so retarted online applications where they email you if they have a position.

Texting > all
 
Personally I think that IM is quite good, but it p*sses me off when people can't construct a sentence properly. Email is still the best way for people who actually speak a language to communicate.
 
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